An Announcing Dream Team

What makes a good sports broadcaster? The magazine has recently investigated the question with looks at two practitioners of the trade. David Remnick wrote about Howard Cosell—“at once an impresario, a circus barker, an analyst, and a serious journalist”—and this week, Kelefa Sanneh writes about spending time with Jon Gruden. Whatever one’s feelings about both men, it’s certain that they would do well on lists of the most distinctive announcers, past and present. Their outsized personas raise a question: Should the announcer be part of the show, subservient to the show, or the show itself? My grandfather has, for many years, decided that TV men shouldn’t be part of the show at all. He watches the Kansas City Chiefs each week with the volume off and the local radio broadcast on. He likes the announcers to be on his side.

At its simplest, announcing is not much different than a bar stool chat between two friends—one the sober designated driver, the other prone to having a few too many drinks and, as a result, too many opinions. But the task has its complications. Except for rarities like Vin Scully, who works a solo booth, announcing is a team game. Qualities valued in a play-by-play man—temperance, moderation—are less important for the color man, who spikes the balls that his partner sets. Each sport also has its intricacies. Tennis requires silence during play. Hockey’s action is constant and quick, so the play-by-play man often dominates the soundtrack like an auctioneer. Soccer offers room for more adjectives. Baseball announcers talk over the action more than any others—what’s one or two missed pitches in mid-June?—and can weave stories through the course of entire innings. Color commentators never talk during plays in football, waiting to offer praise and criticism between downs, while basketball analysts, given the game’s quicker pace, can’t wait for the brief moment between possessions to tell viewers what’s going on.

And within sports, preferences vary. Many attachments, like my grandpa’s, are local. Some want announcers to be passionate fans, others dispassionate conveyors of information. As a kid, I planned, after a lengthy career in a major professional sports league, to become the next Bob Costas. His Olympic telecasts seemed to elevate the event, making heartwarming stories ever warmer, and moments of failure ever more devastating. For a moment, he was the closest we had to a national broadcaster since Cosell, even though he lacked nearly all of Cosell’s bite. (Kudos to Costas, however, for his pitch perfect interview of Jerry Sandusky.) Tastes change, as does one’s level of cynicism, and Costas’ peachy portrayals of the Olympics don’t feel as right as they once did.

If I were building a dream team from today’s crop, for a sporting event to be named later, it would look something like this: Marv Albert running play-by-play next to Cris Collinsworth and Mary Carillo, while Suzy Kolber works the sideline. Charles Barkley would be in the studio with Keith Olbermann and John McEnroe, and, because they’ll need it, Costas stays, as referee.